Farmers Share Ideas In Online Meetings

Farmers Share Ideas In Online Meetings Troubleshoot soil and water stewardship-related challenges with other farmers through Good Idea Shop Talks. Conducted online via Zoom, the call connects 15 to 30 farmers at a time. Each session consists of three weekly meetups. Extension specialists and educators at Midwest and Mid-South land grant universities coordinate the calls. “Shop Talks was an offshoot of One Good Idea podcasts that featured farmers sharing their experiences,” says Jenny Seifert, Watershed Outreach Specialist, University of Wisconsin, Madison. “The goal is to provide more two-way communication. This provides a way for farmers to reach out to other farmers on issues of mutual interest. Farmer-to-farmer learning is really powerful.” Shop Talks began in 2024 and have been conducted seasonally in off-months for crop farming. Moving forward, the extension group plans to offer the Zoom calls three times a year. Each call focuses on an issue or problem suggested by a participating farmer. Other farmers in the call group share what they’ve done related to the problem. “We’re trying to reach farmers on the threshold of trying a new conservation practice, such as getting started with cover crops,” says Seifert. “Our call this past March focused on cover crop termination, including roller crimping and timing. It drew a lot of interest.” The extension group is evaluating the impact of the initial calls. Seifert emphasizes the importance of providing value to the farmers on the call. “The participating farmers are finding a lot of value in this type of community building,” she says. “A lot of them are in areas where a particular conservation practice isn’t being used. Shop Talks lets them learn from what other farmers have done.” Although the number of participants hasn’t been a problem yet, consideration is being given to breakout rooms. They would accommodate larger groups. “We would never limit how many want to join, just modify the way we facilitate the conversation,” says Seifert. A big question moving forward is funding. Seifert notes that the effort relies on grants to keep it going. She encourages interested farmers to visit the website and register to be notified about future calls. The website also features podcasts of farmers discussing a wide range of crop and livestock-related topics. “We won’t turn farmers away, but the upper Midwest and the Mid-South are the regions we’re focusing on,” says Seifert. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Good Idea Shop Talks (jenny.seifert@wisc.edu; www.goodideafarm.org/shop-talks).

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